Monthly Archive for February, 2008

The Lure of Girl Scout Cookies

Published on February 29, 2008 in Life. 7 Comments Tags: Life.

I was just reading Rachel’s blog, where she mentions eating girl scout cookies, which reminded me…

I had an opportunity to buy some girl scout cookies at the library a couple days ago. As we passed I asked David if I should get them now or after we were done picking up our books. He said when we’re done. Then I said,”But what if they run out of our favorite (Samoas)?” And he said they wouldn’t. So. I hesitated. Then acquiesced. While in the library, I kept thinking about chewy, delicious Samoas, and how I was so excited to buy a box (and, uh, support the girl scouts, ahem). Finally I went to check out my books – only to find I had to pay overdue fines that took up almost all of the cash I had. What a blow. So… no girl scout cookies.

The moral of this story is to buy the girl scout cookies right away! And pay your library fines later.

Fertility Charm & Sewing

Published on February 28, 2008 in Crafts & Sewing and Life. 6 Comments Tags: bag, charm, fertility, homemade, jewelry, necklace, pendant, sewing.

For perspective, the white contents in the center are grains of rice.

I recently made this fertility pendant for one of my swap partners who is trying to get pregnant. It took me some time to research the traditional ingredients carried in charms like these, but once I knew what to look for I found all kinds of information. For this purpose, I included only herbs, seeds, and grains, although stones (Basalt, Carnelian, Tiger’s Eye, Garnet, Rose Quartz) seem to be pretty popular, too. You can’t tell from the picture, but the vial is tiny, about 1/2 an inch tall. Then I put it into a vellum envelope and sealed it with a wax seal for presentation.

Meanwhile, I’ve been struggling the past few days on a new hobo/tote bag for myself. I saw this particular style while I was out shopping a couple weeks ago. The fabric was a red sailors stripe that I didn’t like, so I thought I’d try making my own. The outside is almost finished. It took me three tries to attach the oval bottom without the seams looking like hell. I’ve never attached an oval piece before. Is there some secret I don’t know about? I used a straight stitch, but there were all these little puckers. So I did it again about a 1/4 inch from that seam, and then again once more until it looked semi-reasonable. Now I’m in the process of sewing the lining pieces. I finally had to put it away though, so I wouldn’t get too frustrated. Being a beginner sucks sometimes. Would someone please tell those pattern makers to come up with some different styles, because this would have been so much easier with a pattern. Sigh. Hopefully, it will be complete and ready to share by this weekend.

Sister-in-law Love

Published on February 27, 2008 in Crafts & Sewing and handmade. 1 Comment Tags: gift, handmade, jewelry, necklace, obsidian, pendant.

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but one of the most crafty/creative people I know is my sister-in-law Liza. She always seems to be painting, cooking, knitting or sewing something really cool, and because of this her gifts are always unique. This past Christmas, one of the handmade gifts she gave me was a pair of grey cashmere arm-warmers (re-purposed from a thrift store sweater) hand-stitched with a lovely little flower design. Oh boy. Its hard not to feel like a million bucks wearing them.

Recently, she sent me this snowflake obsidian and labradorite pendant as a belated birthday gift. Believe it or not, but dark grey is one of my favorite colors to wear. Of course, I love it. It reminds me of living in the Eastern Sierra Mountains of California, where huge blocks of black obsidian could be found right along the highway. A quick web search says that snowflake obsidian can clear away negative energy and bring balance and harmony to the wearer, which I’m all for (if you believe in that sort of thing).

A few of Liza’s other handmade items can be seen here.

Japanese Variety

Published on February 25, 2008 in Design and Life. 2 Comments Tags: books, candy, food, gifts, Inspiration, japanese, Life, Shop.

I seem to be stuck in a procrastination phase. I was hoping to be more productive this weekend, but I don’t think I was. Actually, I can’t even remember how I spent it all. Some of it was watching a few netflixed Alias episodes (great eye candy, although the mini anxiety attacks from all the suspense and drama are rough), surfed the net, a little gardening, attended a baby shower and put together some swap packages. I did get a little work done, too, so that’s good.

……….

Not far from my house is a Japanese supermarket called Uwajimaya. It’s a great place for exotic foods and asian gifts like ceramics, specialty papers, and traditional art supplies. We had an asian theme to our wedding (red tablecloths, paper lanterns, chopsticks, etc) and most of our food was ordered from here. I picked up the packages of candy shown above this weekend for some swaps (as well as some Haribo candy for myself). The whole side of an aisle is devoted to sweets, and of course I want to try them all.

Next door to the supermarket there is a Tokyo-based bookstore called Kinokuniya. Besides their unique office supplies and selection of kawaii, I love to browse the imported craft books. Their fine aesthetic and clean photographic style really appeals to me. Sometimes they’re written in English, too. My budget has pretty much limited me to only looking, but someday I’d love to bring a few home with me. For now I just try and soak up the inspiration while I’m there.

Babyness – Cutest Baby Shoe Tutorials

Published on February 23, 2008 in Crafts & Sewing and Life. 11 Comments Tags: Baby, booties, Crafts & DIY, gift, sewing, shoes, shower, templates, tutorials.

My friend Greta had a baby shower today. It was a stylish get together and it was so good to see her. Only 5 weeks left and she’ll be a new mommy (although, maybe she can already be considered a new mommy just for being pregnant?). I was blown away by all the gifts, some items I hadn’t heard of or even knew existed. And the adorable baby clothes! So tiny! I mostly bought a group of items off her registry, but this morning I had just enough time to whip up a second pair of felt shoes (first pair here, little boy booties here). I don’t know how long I’ve had those butterfly buttons, but I remembered them at the last minute.

Two interesting things – Mariah, who organized the shower (and who handmade the most adorable burp cloths. I wish I had taken a picture of them) held something called a “diaper raffle.” Basically, your name was entered if you brought a package of diapers, and the winning person got a prize (in this case a nice gift card). A great way to get the new mom stocked up on diapers. The other interesting thing was that, besides registering for just pink items, Greta also added solid white, yellow and green colored items, so that if they had a boy down the road the same items (bibs, blankets, burp cloths) could be used again. That made so much sense, but I doubt I’d have thought of it. So I’m sharing it here!

PS. I thought I’d respond to Aubrey’s comment/question here in the post. The pink and white felt was sewn together by machine, and then the button embellishment and felt strap were sewn on by hand. The velcro was self-adhesive, and I started to secure the ends with a few stitches, but I ran out of time, so I hope the adhesive holds!

The template I used came from a book. I wish I could remember the name of it. However, four of my favorite online felt shoe tutorials and templates are Martha Stewart’s Felt Baby Shoes, Baby Booties, and Crocheted Booties (if only I knew how to crochet!) and Heather Bailey’s Bittie Booties. I haven’t tried any of these yet, but they loof very fun and fabulous!

Martha Stewart’s Felt Baby Shoes and Baby Booties

Martha Stewart’s Crocheted Booties and Heather Bailey’s Bittie Booties

VitaminWater + Timberline = Free Snowboarding

Published on February 22, 2008 in Life, Oregon and Travel. 5 Comments Tags: mt hood, snowboarding, timberline ski.

A photo of Mt Hood I took this past fall, through the windshield of a moving car

David and I went snowboarding at Timberline Ski Area on Mt Hood today. They were running a special where you could get a free lift ticket just for bringing in an empty bottle of VitaminWater. A sweet deal since tickets run around $50 per person. The weather was mostly cloudy, but not too cold.

Ten years ago, when I first taught snowboarding, I was the only female instructor. Needless to say, my male co-workers were much faster and more daring, but I learned to keep up and hold my own pretty fast. Now I’m content just to coast at my own speed and just enjoy the ride. Of course, the thrill isn’t the same, but every now and then I impress myself, that I can still ride with style, albeit for barely half the time. A half a day on the slopes now is plenty enough for me.

Harbingers Of Spring

Published on February 19, 2008 in Garden and Home. 5 Comments Tags: crocus, flowers, Garden, Photos, spring.

The weather has reverted to its normal cloudy grey self today. Right now all their little heads are tightly closed against the cold, but this weekend several little blooms peeked out to say hello. David and I both snapped several pictures, hoping to preserve the feeling of joy at these first little signs of spring. Neither the snowdrop or the yellow crocus shown above are ones that we’d planted, so their arrival is that much more pleasantly unexpected.

Spring Fever: Tokyo Tie Bag

Published on February 18, 2008 in Crafts & Sewing and handmade. 12 Comments Tags: amy butler, bag, books, Crafts & DIY, fabric, handbag, handmade, purse, sewing.

Tokyo Tie Top Bag in Lotus by Amy Butler for Rowan fabrics

The past several days have been so beautiful. Sunny, breezy… almost warm. It inspired me to do some spring sewing this weekend–when we weren’t outside enjoying the weather, that is. Meet my new Tokyo Tie Bag, from Sew Everything Workshop.

In search of suitably spring-like fabric (and to broaden my search for a solid grey to match another fabric I already have, that I want to make a larger bag with later. You would not believe how hard it is to match greys!), I checked out Fabric Depot for the first time. It’s over on the east side of town, where I rarely wander. They bill themselves as “the largest, most complete retail fabric store in the west” with 73,000 square feet of shop space. The place is huge, seemingly a sea of fabric bolts, including some of my favorite designers, organics, and even bamboo material. And they were having a 30% off sale!

For this new little bag I found a pretty flowered pattern and a matching heavy canvas for the lining. This was a good project for me to learn some new techniques – grading seams, clipping curves and adding a snap. Actually, I decided to use a magnetic snap instead, and was happy to find this tutorial for a little help. I didn’t machine sew the hole (since I don’t know how), but I did reinforce the sides by hand. Also, I couldn’t get the prongs to lie flat on top of each other properly, so I bent them outward instead. I hope that doesn’t cause too much of a problem later on.

Because I can’t leave anything well enough alone, I altered the shape of the pattern from the original sizing specified in the book. Instead, I made the straps just a little longer and the bag body a little wider. You can download my template here, but it has to be tiled onto two sheets.

I actually remembered to wash and iron the material before getting started, but I’m thinking it was a mistake to wash the canvas. It came out of the dryer a hard, wrinkled mess. I tried stretching, ironing, re-wetting and hanging, and even used some dreaded Downy Wrinkle Releaser (why do they make it smell so strong?!), but never got it very smooth and flat again. I could swear it said it was machine washable.

Next time, I think I’ll make the straps longer, so it’s more of a shoulder bag instead of a handbag, add an inner pocket, and maybe choose an even heavier weight canvas for a slightly more structured body. Either way, it’s pretty cute.

Cool Online Game

Published on February 16, 2008 in Design and Fun. 2 Comments Tags: Art, campaign, Design, Fun, game, graphics, interactive, milk, online.

gettheglass.com

If you haven’t already, check out this creative online game. I can’t believe how well it was designed, with gorgeous graphics and advanced interactive details. It sort of reminds me of Myst. Very impressive for a milk campaign. We came in at about 9400 out of 41,000. How well can you do?

Handmade Valentine Cards (a personal swap)

Published on February 14, 2008 in Crafts & Sewing, Relationships and handmade. 9 Comments Tags: cards, Crafts & Sewing, Design, embellishments, handmade, Relationships, swap, valentine.

This year for Valentine’s Day I asked David for just one thing, a handmade (by him) Valentine’s card. No chocolates, or flowers, or store-bought card. Just a little of his personal time and effort. And I promised not to judge him. That whatever he chose to make would be just fine. I really meant that. And in return, I would make him a handmade card, too.

Look at this beauty. I would never have expected this in a million years. It looks like a rolled up piece of paper in the photo, but it is actually a little cylindrical box made of heavy paper, secured by a red thread around two eyelets. About 4 inches across.

This is what it looks like inside – surprise! Filled with little strips of pink paper, each with a word on one side and the matching design from the container on the other. Words like love, forever, we, you, mine, desire, romantic, emily, david, always. I could re-arrange the little strips into many different combinations. Pretty and clever. I’m clearly blown away.

This is the card that I made for David. He really loves to flyfish. On our drive back from the coast on my birthday, we stopped at a tiny scrapbooking shop in the seaside town of Gearhart, where I picked up my first collection of brads. That’s right. Before making this card I was a Brad Virgin. I don’t know why I waited – they’re so fun! Such a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. I purchased these little fish, the dragonfly, and the heart paperclips, chosen individually out of tiny drawers. They worked perfectly for this card. The writing on top says “Fishin’ for your love.” The little fish hooks are made of staples I bent with needle-nosed pliers. The inside reads “…and now I’m hooked on you! Happy Valentine’s Day!” embellished with two red heart eyelets.

I’m so proud of us.

If that's what motivates you

Published on February 13, 2008 in Home, Life and Relationships. 3 Comments Tags: Life, motivation, Relationships, tasks, work.

A couple days ago David announced during breakfast that he was “scheduling a meeting” at 11 o’clock for us to take care of some lingering tax documents and business paperwork. As I’ve mentioned before, these are things we procrastinate on every year. I reluctantly agreed, and then (typically) put it out of my mind. I was in the backyard when David stepped outside onto the deck at 11:05am to tell me that the meeting has already started and would I please join him? And get this… he was completely showered, shaved and fully dressed in his best suit and tie! A dramatic difference from our daily uniform of jeans and tee shirts. To see him make such an effort (for humor? or motivation?) really cracked me up. But, I did follow him into the office and we proceeded to take care of every related task on our list.

Artful Photography

Published on February 11, 2008 in Art, Design and Photos. 1 Comment Tags: Art, children, photography.

I recently learned about photographer/artist Al Magnus and thought I’d share a couple of my favorites here. I like their dreamy, magical quality, and how they open up the imagination.

Originally spotted on The Erraticist.

Found objects and other excitement

Published on February 11, 2008 in Barkley, Found and Life. 7 Comments Tags: Barkley, dog, flood, Found, Life, objects, park.

Found objects are so interesting. You can’t help but imagine how they got to where they are. What the circumstances were. Who they belonged to. Their prior lives. Kind of like I wonder about Barkley. Who loved him first? Who was with him when his baby teeth fell out? Was his one floppy ear broken by accident or was he just born like that? These things I’ll never know, but it stirs the imagination in several different directions.

Found object: blue toy soldier.

Found object: flashing dog tag. It still works!

Found objects: Maple leaves with galls.

Another exciting event this weekend occurred while we were at Rood Bridge Park in Hillsboro today. The park is currently severely flooded by the adjoining Tualatin River. Paved trails abruptly end and are completely uncrossable. You can see the halves of trees sticking up out of the deep, milky opaque water. At one point after a trail stopped, David, Barkley and I walked out onto a huge fallen tree over the river to take a better look. In this situation, Barkley was pulling on the leash too hard for my balance and comfort so I bent down to unleash him. When I gave the release command, and pointed back down the tree toward David, he must have misunderstood me. Instead, he immediately leapt off the tree and into the moving water, shocking us both, only to find that his passage back to land was blocked by large tree branches and crisscrossing vegetation. The tree was too high above the water-line for him to get back on and he was desperately trying to find purchase somewhere, but couldn’t get a grip on anything, clawing wildly at the bottom bark of the trunk. Luckily he was wearing a body harness. David rushed over, knelt down and eventually was able to drag him out. David is my hero. It was over pretty quickly, but I know we were all a little shaken by the experience. The thing is, Barkley always enters water gingerly and with caution. I’ve never known him to just jump in like that. Was he just so trusting of me to blindly follow what he thought was a command into the water? I just don’t know what he was thinking or why he did that. I guess I’ll never know. I just hope that all doesn’t happen again.

Hard to believe but there is a parking lot under all that water.

One of the paved trails flooded by the Tualatin River.

Barkley safe and unharmed after the incident.

Getting his confidence back. He decided he prefers running on top of the water.

Just to be sure this experience wouldn’t frighten Barkley out of the water forever, David rolled the ball into a much safer and shallower area, barely inches of water. It took him a few moments, but after very cautiously peering in and taking it one step at a time, he quickly got over his initial reservation and retrieved the ball. Whew!

The most AMAZING buttermilk chocolate cake EVER

Published on February 9, 2008 in Eating, Portland and recipes. 56 Comments Tags: baking, buttermilk, cake, chocolate, dessert, Eating, food, recipes.

buttermilk chocolate cake

Okay, I am not kidding here, but I just made the most AMAZING buttermilk chocolate cake EVER! And truly, it was not hard at all. I originally saw the recipe in Marcy’s copy of February’s Portland Monthly magazine, and thought I should write it down, but I forgot. Then, while David was waiting that extra hour for me to finish with my dentist appointment, he came across it again and thoughtfully asked the receptionist to photocopy it for me. (Such a sweetheart!)

Since we were having a friend over for dinner, I thought I’d use that as an excuse to try out this new recipe. And it was… magic! Moist, rich, chocolaty, not too sweet and with just the right amount of depth and complexity. And did I mention beautiful? Gorgeously dark with a semi-matte, creamy ganache frosting. I’m never going to buy chocolate container frosting ever again. Now I know the secret – and so do you!

Chocolate Buttermilk Layer Cake

Once you pour the hot coffee into the batter, don’t be alarmed by its thinness.
“It’s definitely the thinnest cake batter I’ve ever worked with,” [Portland Baker
Melissa] McKinney says. As for the frosting, there’s no need to use fancy chocolate,
she says. “I just use semi-sweet chocolate chips and it comes out perfect.”

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)*
1 1/3 cups canola oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups freshly brewed, extra-strong hot coffee*
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
24 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

2. Place flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on low to combine. Keeping the mixer on low , add oil, buttermilk, then eggs one at a time. Add hot coffee in a thin stream, pouring down the side of the bowl. Add vanilla and mix until batter is smooth. Divide into pans and back until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool in pans for at least 20 minutes.

3. Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and bringing it to a boil. Place chocolate chips and cream in a stainless steel mixing bowl (I used glass) and set on top of simmering water, Allow mixture to melt–do not stir right away, When chocolate has melted, stir it with a whisk. Allow to cool at room temperature.

4. Remove cakes from pans. Place one layer of cake on a serving plate. Trim the top with a serrated knife to make it even (although I didn’t find this necessary). Place a scoop of ganache in the middle and smooth it out to the edges using a palette knife or spatula. Trim the top off the other layer and place the untrimmed side down on the top of the frosted layer, pressing gently. Spoon more ganache on the top and smooth it around the sides, adding more ganache as needed to cover. If you need to apply a second coat of ganache, put the cake in the refridgerator for no more than 15 minutes to set before adding a second coat (although I found myself with a surplus of frosting). Makes a single 9-inch layer cake.

My notes: For the cocoa powder I used Droste cocoa from Holland, which is like gold around here, but I really wanted to make it extra special. I also didn’t bother to sift it. For the chocolate frosting I used Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. And instead of the extra strong coffee, I pulled four extra long shots of espresso, enough to make the full 1 1/2 cups.

Postscript: In response to a comment below, I thought I’d add this paragraph from the article for those interested:

So what gives this recipe such staying power? It’s the oil, says McKinney. “Oil makes a moister cake, and allows it to last a week, whereas a layer cake made with butter becomes dry the next day.” Plus, the hot coffee elevates the cocoa’s depth and complexity. The cake is versatile as well: The batter can be stored in the fridge for several days; stout can be used in place of coffee, it can even be made vegan (McKinney suggests using egg replacement and vanilla soy milk.) And the layers can be filled with whipped cream and fresh berries instead of ganache.

*Update* See this post on halving the recipe, with updated shape and photos!